Not Haunting Yet
by liztits
Summary: Jack's screwed. As she faces off with Reaper forces in London, certain aspects of her life refuse to stop distracting her.


**A short note, to say this is part of a yet unnamed continuum, that is all the ME stories that I have written. You can read this without them, but bits of it won't make sense.  
Third in the series, and this is my favourite ME ship.  
I hope you enjoy it! And please review, because I am all about reviews. The good, the bad, the ugly. Whatever.  
Also, points if you get the reference hidden in here, and double points if you get the title reference.  
**

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"Shit" Jack thought, rolling out of the way as the Brutes huge claw smashed into the ground. "I'm gonna die."  
She'd never been scared of dying until the Collectors base. Until she felt more human than she had in years, and now she had all these students, and friends, and feelings, and to be honest, she fucking hated it. It was exhausting. Caring was more tiring than fighting off Reaper hordes.

"FUCK" She yelled, throwing a shockwave toward an approaching Banshee while she raised her shotgun to the head of the Brute, firing off a perfect headshot. The Brute dropped to the ground and the floor shook violently, temporarily knocking Jack's footing.  
She wondered what the rest of the old crew were doing now as she ran for cover, jumping across the hood of burnt out hover car.  
With any luck, Shepard was already on the Citadel, putting an end to this unholy mess. Her comms had bottomed out an hour ago, just as the Hammer strike force was readying for the final push.

Garrus, Tali and Liara were probably with Shepard, or aboard the Normandy, and she'd heard that Grunt was in London, leading his company.  
She knew about Mordins death, and she'd actually been saddened by it. At one time, a death was just that, nothing more, nothing to have any feelings for, unless she was the one doing the killing.

She wondered briefly about Kasumi's location, but she'd have more luck finding a human amongst husks. Kasumi would probably still be alive though, Jack was pretty sure of it. You can't exactly kill someone you can't see.

As she aimed over the cover and fired an incendiary round into the Banshee screeching in front of her, setting it alight, she wondered about Miranda.  
The last time she'd seen her, she'd been on the Citadel, thin to the point of looking ill and exhausted. They hadn't spoken much then, it'd all been urgent touches and heavy breathing, and then she'd been off into the night again, leaving Jack alone with her thoughts.

She wasn't exactly sure when her hatred for Miranda had turned into lust, but she remembers the first time they kissed.

Just before the Suicide Mission, Miranda had invited herself down to the hold, unreadable expression on her face, ringing her hands. At first Jack had thought she'd come down to have it out, one last argument before they flew to their deaths, but to her surprise, Miranda had dropped her head, murmuring a quiet apology.  
Then she looked up, looked straight into Jacks eyes and Jack barely recognised the person staring back. Gone was the Ice Queen, a terrified woman met her eyes instead. She looked a lot younger, scared, and alone. Jack didn't know what to do, with all that feeling, the stare making her feel things she couldn't understand. So she kissed her. Threw herself forward and kissed her. The first kiss had been tentative, gentle. But then Miranda got more confident, became more her, and it was a battle for dominance.

They didn't speak about what happened afterwards, as Miranda poured herself back into her bodysuit, and Jack brushed it off as a goodbye fuck, but when they'd been in the Collectors base, and a shot hit Miranda, knocking her back, Jack's heart had leapt into her throat. Not that she'd ever admit that.

Jack sighed, shaking her head and trying to focus on the task at hand. She's under attack by thousands of Reaper forces and she can't stop her mind wandering. The ex-con switched guns, taking out her Carnifex and aiming straight at the head of a Marauder that was pinning down two of her students. Once it was down, she span, and was greeted by the unsettling grin of a Banshee, leaning inches away from her face.

She reeled, trying to get away from the awful creature, and instead caught her foot on a piece of loose pathing, falling to her knees.  
She span quickly, lying on her back and pulling out her shotgun and the Banshee bore down on her. "Yep, I'm definitely going to die." Jack thought again, pumping her shotgun and raising it. Not fast enough, and the Banshee reached out, ready to grab Jack and suck the life out of her. Jack shut her eyes and took a deep breath, refusing to cry, or scream. Refusing to die like a coward.

The icy grip of the Banshee didn't come though, and when Jack opened her eyes, she was covered by an incredibly strong barrier. She didn't have a chance to look who had saved her before a voice chirped up behind her.  
"Are you going to kill it, or do I have to do everything myself?" Jack recognised the voice instantly and smiled, raising her shotgun just as the barrier dropped and blowing the face off the former Asari.

Her saviour rounded on her, reaching out a hand and pulling her up. Jack took the hand and was hauled to her feet, stumbling slightly and being caught by two strong yet soft arms.  
"Didn't figure you'd be the one who goes in for the damsel in distress routine" Miranda smiled, pulling Jack a little closer.  
"Well, I didn't peg you as the dyke in shining armour type" Jack shot back, grinning.  
"Don't you mean knight?"  
"Knights aren't women that are coping a feel" Jack replied, nodding her head to Miranda's hands, which had found their way to her ass. "Perve."

"As touching as this reunion is, we're getting our asses kicked" Rodriguez shouted from nearby, "ma'am."  
"Alright, keep your panties on, we're coming" Jack yelled back before leaning to kiss Miranda softly, "We'll continue this later." She told her before turning away, sending a deadly shockwave into a group of husks, then pulling out her gun.

Miranda walked up next to her, taking out her own rifle and aiming at a Marauder, taking it down in two shots.  
"How did you even find me?" Jack asked over the noise coming from their guns.  
"A girl has her ways." She replied, shooting a wink in Jacks direction.  
"You've always gotta be so fucking mysterious, you spend too much time with Kasumi." The younger woman shook her head, smiling.  
"You can never spend too much time with me." A voice whispered in her ear, causing her to jump.  
"Fuck! Can you not do that in the middle of a war zone!?" Jack fumed as the shorter woman uncloaked herself.  
"You ruin all my fun." She replied, throwing a flash grenade into the fray.

Jack just shook her head, shooting more of the husks heading their way. Of course Miranda and Kasumi would be together, with their stupid unlikely friendship and their fucking galpal ways.  
Not that Jack was jealous. Not in the slightest.  
Jack fired off the rest of her clip, reloading quickly. As she reloaded, she turned to look at Miranda, who had moved away slightly and taken cover behind the shell of a tank. Her face dropped as she noticed a Brute heading right toward Miranda, who, preoccupied with the horde of husks heading their way, had not seen it.  
"Miranda!" Jack tried to scream, to warn her. "Miri, move!" She tried again, running towards the older woman. Without enough time to warn her, Jack simply pushed Miranda aside as the Brute hit, carrying her away with it. It lifted Jack high into the air with one of its huge arms and slammed her against the floor, forcing all of the air out of her lungs and cracking bones. Jack grunted in pain as it lifted her again, ready to slam her again, delivering the killing blow.

She saw Miranda furiously fighting her way towards her, and knew she wouldn't make it in time. Saw Rodriguez and Kasumi on the other side of the makeshift battlefield.  
At least she got to see Miranda one last time before she died, she thought to herself, to kiss her one last time. She kept her eyes on Miranda and the Brute lifted its arm higher.  
She registered the look of shock on Miranda's face before a bizarre wave hit her, causing the Brute to drop her onto the floor. She let out a strangled cry, and noticed the vague green light as her eyes lost focus, and she dropped out of consciousness.

Waking up when you don't remember going to sleep can be very disorientating. Especially when you feel like you've been ripped in half and rubbed in salt. When Jacks mind finally finishes reorienting itself, she panics. They're in the middle of a war, and she's fucking sleeping! Her eyes shoot open and she immediately tries to climb up from where she's lay.  
Then soft hands are on her shoulders, pushing her down, and a soothing Australian accent whispers in her ear. "It's alright, lie back down. It's okay"  
She allows herself to be pushed back to the bed, but only because of who's pushing. When she looks up at Miranda, Miranda sees that her eyes are full of questions, and pulls up a chair.  
"The wars over." She tells her, putting a hand onto the soft hair that's been pulled out of its usual ponytail. "They did it, Shepard and Anderson. They stopped the Reapers. Or they did something to them. I don't know what. They help now." Jack opens her mouth to ask a question, but Miranda waves it away. "Shepard said they're safe, that Anderson did something, sacrificed himself so they wouldn't be a threat anymore. I'm not really sure, I've been here with you since they found her on the Citadel."  
"How long have I been out?" Jack asks, brown eyes meeting icy blue.  
"A few days, you had a lot of internal injuries. That Brute really did a number on you." Miranda pauses, and Jack sees her eyes well up. "You saved my life. You nearly died, but you saved my life. You knew, that if it got hold of you, it was over, why did you do that?" Her voice breaks on the last few words.  
"I love you." Jack tells her earnestly. "I fucking love you, alright? I wasn't about to let some dirty fucking monster kill you and leave me alone." Jack sighs, closing her eyes. "If you ever tell anyone I said that, I'll kill you."  
Miranda chuckles, wiping a stray tear from under her eye. She takes Jacks hand.  
"I love you too."


End file.
